Ray waits nervously for flight (8)
I believe the answer is:
stairway
'flight' is the definition.
(flights of stairs)
'ray waits nervously' is the wordplay.
'nervously' indicates anagramming the letters.
'ray'+'waits'='raywaits'
'raywaits' is an anagram of 'STAIRWAY'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for stairway that I've seen before include "A flight of fixed indoor steps" , "- to Heaven, Led Zeppelin song" .)